Okay, so both Rondo of Blood, and Symphony of the Night are unlocked by finding secret items that are inside break-away areas and walls. The SOTN version seems like the Saturn version. The sounds are all better quality than the PSX version, but the voices have been changed. Richter's dialogue in the intro is the same from the end of the new DX' version. Alucard's voice is nowhere near as cool it was before (the voiceover guy has done a few other US released games, but all of his voiceovers thus far aside from Alucard have been terrible. He has horrible delivery, and and has a heavy lisp, no idea how he hid it with Alucard's VO, but it was his best work) - no clue if you can play as Maria yet, but if not, then there's really not point (imo) in playing this just for SOTN, when the SOTN PSX port is made of uberness.

The Rondo port is perfect though. Same as the TG16 original. Music even sounds better than the remastered stuff in the new DX' version.

However, the game has a 'sound assign' mode, where you can take any audio track from the three versions, and assign them to the new DX's stages, basically making the game cooler by emulating the older music. :\ IGA sucks.

And he only refers to himself as "IGA" now. IGA has EGO problems. He's content with the way the CV games have been going. In my opinion, they've gone incredibly stagnant, and the character/plot designs have all gone downhill since SOTN. Soma's a joke.

I don't think that Konami have 'killed' Castlevania: Symphony of the Night by altering the voices. Whilst admittedly, I do prefer the old voice cast, I don't think voice overs play such a major part in this game. Considering that speaking scenes occur very rarely, I don't see it as being a real problem.

The gameplay is still the same, with the addition of being able to play as Maria now, as well as the addition of new monsters, weapons and two of the familiars that were omitted from the previous version, I think Konami did a good job porting the game. =]

You better be prepared to take me on then, prepare to debate this to the death. (the case and point, that is )

AHEM.

Soma is not awesome. He's not even a character. He's 2-dimensional, and if you had a mind you wouldn't give a damn about him. The stories that place him at the head of the series are so cheaply and conveniently designed that you either excuse the design and embrace the flaws and direction the series has moved in, or reject it because you know what quality is.

The poor excuse of a series direction that self-imposed 'KONAMI GOD' Igarashi (IGA) is using to destroy the series. He attempts to mar the series in mediocrity to keep development costs low, keep a steady, intellectually devoid fan-base hooked on the series, and hopes that nobody will notice. I won't get into the poor choices of re-rights, severed story plots from particular games (and whole games themselves) and the failed attempts at 3d Castlevania (lacking any real direction to fully realize the potential a 3d Castlevania game had).

The cheap, quick, and easy Castlevania design insures one thing - Igarashi has a job, he's a 'rock star' (you'll never see him take off his patented cowboy hat), and the series will never push for quality as long as he's at the helm.

Case in point > After a long while of debating, and wresting the property from Paul WS (weak sauce) Anderson's hands, the Castlevania movie is being helmed by a new director (still lame choice) and new writer. The writer had to go through at least 8 REWRITES until it was dumbed down enough for Igarashi to approve it. After it was approved, it underwent 4 MORE REWRITES.

There is also a Castlevania animated movie that is going through hell because ONCE AGAIN IGA is fu&$ing with the origin design. Simon, no Trevor, no Leon, no fu&$ Leon, we'll stick with Trevor, or FU$% WE'LL STICK WITH SIMON, etc. Bullshit.

Sacrificing a key element to the series, Dracula himself, was a very bad choice - as bad as removing the zombie threat (and Umbrella Corp) from Resident Evil. There's a lot of things that go on in the industry that the casual gamer just own understand - these folks will never admit they're part of the problem (ie; why final fantasy still exists after a decade of sub-par designs - i'll argue the *bleep* out of that too, btw read my Crisis Core review, if it's still up, that is).

Damn, lot on my plate. Okay, focusing on Soma, why does his character look like that? Where's Cruz come from? Why is Castlevania in Japan? What happened to the attention to Belmont heritage and world ties (at least FEELING like the Castle was inspired from some sinister Transylvanian mythos). Nowhere. It's cheaply designed, done so that the next game is excused for repeating the same level of quality. Soma has no motivations, has no ties to players, and his forced relationship with other characters keeps players in the dark about the strength of such relationships, forcing them to assume that so and so character is close to him because something happened behind the scenes that we just didn't 'need to see', but have to deal with. That's not professional writing. A god-damned instruction manual can explain character history, that's how shit was done in the NES days, and that didn't even happen here.

Ripped off and stagnant gameplay don't make a character cool either. Lack of innovation shouldn't be rewarded. (Especially with millions of dollars/yen in profits)

SOTN was great for its day because it actually took the series in a more serious direction - moving one step up over Dracula X. Both of those games had a relatively 'new' approach to storytelling in a Castlevania game. X had it's violent intro (and an actual character intro), and there were conversations with other characters that were, though short, well rounded for its time.

SOTN added a very sharp visual and symphonic edge to the maintained X's visual direction (scenario direction/scripting), and in many ways upped the ante. While in general, its plot was still pretty corny, it took the series in a direction that many never expected it even could. SOTN's very opening told you exactly what to expect, having your main character burst through the forest like a madman, vaulting up and over a drawbridge that attempted to refuse him, and come to a stop with a carefully scripted stance in front of a castle that (as a creature itself), feared his presence. Easily got the point across without so much as a single word spoken - Al' was out for blood, and nothing was going to get in his way. Compared to Belmonts in previous games, the impression of a slow-walking Belmont nearing the Castle drawbridge (and possible cracking the whip before entering) was blown away. That attitude carried on through the rest of the game - there was some actual damned directing involved.

Since then the series has been mired in cheap hand-held sequels that have greatly undershot series potential. What's worse, with every new game that is rushed out the door for profits, is another setback, another poorly designed story behind another CV game, and they're still making money from it. The few attempts at making PS2 (and one xbox dual released) Castlevania were hit with higher expectations that would require some real devotion to work that IGA has since proven incapable of. Serious plot flaws are abundant, and generic (ripped off) elements were used rather than strike up on the potential we've seen with games like Dracula X and Simon's Quest (to say the least).

It's not only the Castle that's full of baddies - players have fought through forest, cave, swamp, and other areas before. There was always much potential there, even for an MMO styled variant (think Monster Hunter, only Transylvania w/demons). Won't happen, not with Iga at the helm.

Soma is a product of everything that's wrong about the series, and in no way is he 'cool' for being so. You might as well call him Justy and there's be little difference.

hit one. [I'll be nice since this is considered a easy three]----------------------I liked how they handled the DS games. Portrait of Ruin and Ecclesia especially. They showed that Dracula isn't only the Belmont's problem, He's everyone's F--king problem.

hit two.----------------------'cheap, quick, and easy Castlevania design'-lol think you can do better champ? Seriously, I would love for you to attempt pull off music, graphics, and gameplay for a castlevania game.

hit three

'why does his [Soma] character look like that?'-you did read that interview right? Oh what you didn't? probably because you were too busy complaining.Let me help you here. They were trying to introduce more people to Castlevania since the original style was a bit intimidating. Next time don't ask me to read for you ok?

hit four.-------------'even for an MMO styled variant'WoW isn't Castlevania. WoW is to easy as Castlevania is to hard. People want the reflex effect that Castlevania always had. WoW has no reflex effect [unless you call clicking an unmoving icon a test of your reflex]. Basically from your bawwfest about how IGA is 'killing' castlevania you then had to render your arguement useless when you said 'MMO'. So Mr. Gray, you want the series to become yet another MMO thus killing the series for which you blame IGA for 'killing?'. If only they made real paradox machines...Personally, I think you should just stick to WoW.

hit five [plus at least 3 more hits.]----------------'cheap hand-held sequels that have greatly undershot series potential'This really sounds like you never played any of them.The Dracula/Death tag team fight was well executed in Portrait of Ruin. Plus the level caps made the game gain even more replay value than it already had.

hit nine

'at least FEELING like the Castle was inspired from some sinister Transylvanian mythos'

Please refer to enemy bios and the overly blunt symbolism in the game [given that if you actually played the game, we wouldn't be here now would we?]

hit ten----------------------'Ripped off and stagnant gameplay' Ripped off? from what game other than say...Aria of Sorrow?

hit eleven------------------'A god-damned instruction manual can explain character history, that's how shit was done in the NES days, and that didn't even happen here.'

Hammer [age: 35] Now a merchant, he retired from the military because of last years incident. While he looks rough and resolute, he is actually aimless and irresponsible. He acts as a information broker through his shady business connections. He is hopelessly in love with Yoko.

Soma Cruz [age: 19] The rebirth of Dracula, he has the ability to dominate the souls of monsters and use their powers as his own. A year ago, he learned that he was destined to become the dark lord. However, he overcame the chaos that raged within and escaped that fate.

Genya Arikado [age: unknown] A member of a top secret japanese government agency. Shrounded in mystery, his true identity is known but to a handful of people [

Spoiler:true identity

Highlight this box with your cursor to read the spoiler text.spoiler: He's really Alucard, not 'Al' as Mr Gray 'affectionately' put it :sigh:

] Although he is strikingly beautiful, his cold and detached demeanor makes him difficult to approach.

Well, from what i read right from the instruction manual, character history is present.I think the fitting word here is RTFM? [and also play the game, but hey that's always optional for you Mr. Gray] Please correct me if I am wrong here. I'll take no offense.

Hit Eleven-----------------Any more and I would've gotten a critial hit.We need people like Mr. Gray to brighten up our time on the internet.

[I apologize to the moderators and admins of this forum for the post order due to the limit guest words thing.]

SOTN added a very sharp visual and symphonic edge to the maintained X's visual direction (scenario direction/scripting), and in many ways upped the ante. While in general, its plot was still pretty corny, it took the series in a direction that many never expected it even could. SOTN's very opening told you exactly what to expect, having your main character burst through the forest like a madman, vaulting up and over a drawbridge that attempted to refuse him, and come to a stop with a carefully scripted stance in front of a castle that (as a creature itself), feared his presence. Easily got the point across without so much as a single word spoken - Al' was out for blood, and nothing was going to get in his way. Compared to Belmonts in previous games, the impression of a slow-walking Belmont nearing the Castle drawbridge (and possible cracking the whip before entering) was blown away. That attitude carried on through the rest of the game - there was some actual damned directing involved.

would you be willing to read my review for SOTN? I would appreciate your input.